The present invention relates to a feeding device for feeding suspension elements into a packaging machine.
More specifically, the invention relates to a feeding device for suspension elements, for feeding flexible suspension elements into a packaging machine, in particular into a clipping machine, wherein the suspension elements are detachably disposed in the form of loops by means of an adhesive on a carrier strip transversely to the feeding direction and may be conveyed by means of said carrier strip to a delivery point at which a suspension element may be removed from the carrier strip.
It is known, in practice, that when producing sausages, for example, the sausage meat is fed by a filling machine to a clipping machine via a filling tube. In the clipping machine, the filling material is filled into a tubular packaging material which is closed at one end by a first clip, and the tubular packaging material is closed by placing a second clip. If the sausage-shaped product or the sausage product is to be suspended for further processing, a suspension element, which in most cases is a thread loop, is usually inserted into the second clip and fixed to the sausage product by means of said second clip. The sausage products are then strung on storage rods and transported out of the clipping machine in order to be further processed, for example smoked.
A production line for producing sausage-shaped products is known from German laid-open patent specification 10 2006 041 829 (US2008064313), in which the sausage-shaped products receive a free-flowing filling material, such as sausage meat, sealing compound, granulate or the like in a tubular casing material. This prior art production line contains a clipping machine, in which the casing material stuffed with filling material is portioned into single sausage-shaped products by constricting the casing and placing closure clips in the constricted region, wherein at least one flexible suspension element that is fed in synchrony to the clipping machine may be attached to the sausage-shaped product when placing the clips. The suspension elements formed here by thread loops lie on a carrier strip which is coated on one side with an adhesive, from which they are pulled off singly in the clipping machine by a lower die, not shown in any further detail, of a clip placement and clip closing tool.
In these prior art feeding devices for flexible suspension elements there is a risk, however, that the suspension elements are ejected from the lower die or clip by the impulse that is imparted to them when they are detached from the carrier strip. This leads to the suspension elements not being properly fixed to the sausage-shaped product. Unwanted downtime and lost production are the consequence. The suspension elements twirling about can also catch in other parts of the machinery, which likewise results in additional downtime and lost production.
The object of the present invention is to provide a feeding device for suspension elements, for feeding flexible suspension elements into a packaging machine, in particular into a clipping machine, of the kind initially specified, which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages and which makes the production of sausage-shaped products more reliable.